Summertime is my favorite time of the year for nails. I love summer because I love neon and bright colors for my nail polish and can be seen a mile away with my manicure.
It doesn’t matter if you have long nails, short nails, the coffin shape, or french tips, these trends are for you! I generally lean towards a dip powder or gel polish for my manicures, but regular nail polish as well as acrylic work all the same.
The other fantastic thing about summer nail trends is it doesn’t know an age. Any age can rock a summer nail trend, from 2 years to 100 years. Make sure you read on through for my tip on finding your perfect neutral/nude shade!
Ok, let’s get into my favorite summer nail trends.
Summer Nail Trends
1. French Manicure
This one lets you take a different take on a french manicure with either a fun color like pink, peach, or turquoise or do a more of a triangle shape with the white shape instead of the straight line. I’m all about updating the seasons and this lets you keep a classic design while staying on trend.
I think this one would be so fun for any age and you can do these on your real nails, on acrylics, with a dip, or as a gel option. So versatile and good for events, travel, and wedding season.
2. Ombre Nails
One of my absolute favorites for year round, I typically do one nail ombre and the rest solid or glitter. I try to incorporate a total of three colors in this nail design — one for 3 fingers, one for the middle and ring fingers, and then one for the ombre on either the middle or ring finger. This keeps things fun and you can use the same three colors in so many ways it won’t look like the same every time. I used the Essie brand colors for my nails, and did them two different ways.
3. Design with Color
I believe this one comes and goes with the seasons, I always see design and then color year round, so this one isn’t really new. However, this year, I see more neon colors with waves, or with little art designs on top of the colored nail. My favorite I’ve seen was one where the gal was headed to somewhere beachy and she did an ombre sunset look on all the nails and a little leaf on the ring finger, which I believe I’m going to try when we go to Hawaii.
This nail trend is probably the easiest, as anyone can do it with any and all colors, and you can’t go wrong. I know for me, every time I go to the salon, they always ask if I want a design, or something extra and I always say no. But I believe I will try the cute little nail like the one seen here.
4. Multiple Colors with Floral Design
Summer Nail Trends
This trend is very similar to the last one, except it has more colors, usually, and a cute little floral design on two or more nails. The ones I’ve seen do one main color on their nails, and then lines and design with colored flowers or white flowers, depending on the other colors in the set. You can switch this design up quite a bit and have the same trend with different colors and floral placement all summer and no one would know any different.
5. Colored Lines on a Nude Nail
This one is new to me, but it’s been around for a very long time. I remember looking at a design like this for our wedding back in 2015, but with color and a silver line. Now, a nude nail is all the rage and adding lines of color or little swirls of color help make this designer nail pop. I need to remind you, the nude you see in the photo may not work the same on your skin — sometimes it can turn out more pink or more brown. So be mindful when choosing the nude or make sure to let your nail tech know you want a nude that will best match your skin and the photo.
Otherwise, if you tell them exactly like the photo or the same code of the color in the photo, you may be disappointed it doesn’t look the same. Trust me, I’ve been there and done it, and finding the perfect nude for your skin is important! We aren’t all the same!
A little tip on how to find out if a color or neutral/nude works with your skin:
grab the bottle, or color of polish/dip/gel you want to use, and put it against the inside of your wrist. This is where your skin is its most natural color, and will tell you if it will work with your skin tone. If it will look orange, or red, or brown, or yellow on your nails, this is the spot it will tell you. It will also tell you if the color is going to be washed out or too light against your skin. Don’t waste time or energy and have to select another color, try the inside of the wrist first to see how it will look. Now, I know sometimes the dip can be hard to tell but open it up and put it against the inside of your wrist skin and you can get a better idea.
Some places have the nail swatches, and that makes it much easier to grab the nail sample and stick it on the inside of your wrist for a better idea of the finished look.
6. Neutral Nails with 2 Party Nails
For me, this is the most common outside of the ombre nails I do. It’s quick, easy, and still lets me be creative and fun while keeping it simple. If you find the right shade of neutral/nude, you can wear this with the dip nail longer than 2 weeks, even if your nails grow insanely fast like mine, minus the 2 party nails. My favorite way to do the party nails is with one solid glitter, like a silver or white, and then the other with a bigger, brighter glitter or even foil. It lets you have 2 party nails, but gives you the ability to really showcase the one with the bigger, brighter print. You can even do a design on the party nail, on top of the glitter or bright color if you want.
This trend lends itself really well to any holiday, party, travel, or gathering you are headed to. I choose this one the most as I never know when an event may turn up, or what the occasion might be, so it’s a great conversation piece as well as clean and neat.
There you have it, the trends of the summer, as I’ve seen them. Remember, it’s important, now and always, to find your personal neutral/nude color because we aren’t all the same. Make sure to revisit my tip a bit back to ensure you always find the perfect color for your skin tone!
Managing a household and a family is no joke. Sometimes, it’s easy to get overwhelmed with all of the chores – the cooking, the cleaning, the dishes…the list goes on. Not to mention actually working yourself and during these present times, home/virtual schooling. However, with the help of a few handy home management skills, you can make the process of managing as well as living in your home, simpler, easier and better.
Simple Home Management Skills that will Make your Life Better
With these 10 tips, you can upgrade your home life and make it less chaotic.
1. Organization
The first thing that jumps to mind when we hear home management, is definitely organizing everything in your home so that things are in their correct places. A cluttered home means a cluttered life.
Of course, if you have kids in the house, the tasks increase tenfold. But, by being strict with your family members, and decluttering the house every once in a while, you can manage to keep your home organized and tidy. You can either clean one room at a time, or you can do a massive weekend decluttering.
2. Meal Planning
“What’s for dinner?” The answer to this question should be ready in your mind when you wake up in the morning. You cannot just grab whatever you can from the refrigerator and throw them together in a pot. Every meal of the day should be planned according to the likes and needs of the family members, to ensure that they get their nutrition while savoring a dish. Variety is the spice of life so a varied diet each day is important to satisfy those hunger pangs.
Sometimes I’m really great at meal planning while other times, I grab whatever is in the fridge/freezer and make something up. With the pandemic, we were lucky enough to stock up on groceries. So we have quite a bit of stock to choose from. Lately, I’ve been putting everything in my Instant Pot, which also doubles as an AirFryer, so that makes dinnertime easy.
3. Laundry
No one really likes doing laundry, but the more you procrastinate, the more dirty clothes pile up until you are out of clothes. What a nightmare! Do not let this happen to you. Form a new habit, a habit of doing a load of laundry every day. Clothes need to be sorted into different washing categories, and then you can just shove them in the machine. However, you do have to have space cleared out separately for dirty laundry and fresh laundry.
We have a cleaning crew that comes 1-2 times a week, and they take care of laundry on those days. However, with 4 people in our home, and working out daily and swimming quite often, we still have a bit of laundry that piles up. I find it easiest to get a load going in the morning and then switch halfway through the day. I’m not the best at hanging or putting away, but everyone knows where the clean laundry is. We also installed a washer/dryer in Steve’s closet, so he does his own laundry throughout the week right in his closet, because he always wears the same things. Even with a closet full, he claims to never have clothes!
4. Finances
Taking care of the budget and finances is one of the most important skills of home management. You need to fix a budget and chalk out how you will spend your money to pay the bills, to buy essentials such as food and clothing, recreation, and more.
I will admit, we don’t have much of a budget, but we do look at finances to figure out when we can take a vacation, or when we can book flights to travel to see family. For our businesses, finances and budgets are a bigger deal.
5. Baskets
Bins and baskets are a neat little way of storing supplies in every room. You can store essential supplies in these baskets and put labels on them so that everyone in the family knows where the dirty laundry goes and where the toiletries are.
This isn’t something we utilize too much in our home aside from the containers the girls have for their toys. We do use these for our short term rental properties and it seems to work quite well and is a nice decorative touch.
6. You’ve Got Mail
Important mail like bills and payments need to be dealt with as soon as they arrive, while some others can be stored away for later. Figure out a system that works for you about how you handle mail when it arrives, how you sort it out, and how you separate the important ones from the less urgent ones.
I personally pick out a day or two during the month, one at the beginning and one in the middle, to do all of the bills that need paid. I typically do online payments, so this is a simple task for me to knock out quickly.
7. Labels
Labels are quite a nifty way to give silent directions to your family members about what goes where. If you have kids in the house, then this is especially helpful for them to always remember where to put their toys and where to put their homework. Implementing the label system in your organizational skills will only lead to smoother operations.
We have friends who use labels for everything, and quite honestly, it was overwhelming for me and makes me shy away from them. However, it would be much easier now that both girls can read, to keep things better organized and picked up.
8. Garden and Yard
You need to assign who gets to do this part of the job. Garden work can be pushed further down the list of priorities. But it’s important to have your yard just as neat and tidy as your house because it makes sense to have a proper usable space outside of the house.
In our home, we do have a landscaper. But my husband LOVES to cut the grass and do yard work. He typically takes care of the landscaping on Saturday or Sunday. We do share the load with ensuring all the rubber mulch (best decision ever) is put back into the border when we are out with the kids or the dogs.
9. To Do Lists and Schedules
It’s essential for you to make to-do lists, checklists, and schedules for yourself in order to get more work done in an efficient manner. With routines, you set up goals for yourself. Which makes it easier for you to get the chores done.
For me, I like to set a weekly plan, instead of a daily list. As it helps me to be flexible with my days while being able to check a few more things off on days that are lighter. Or days where my girls don’t need me as much for virtual school.
10. Grocery Shopping
Once again, you need to assign who buys the groceries in day-to-day life. And your work will be smoothed out for you if you make it a habit to make a list of things you need to shop for. I use apps that deliver the groceries to my front door, without me having to be home.
My favorite is Instacart, but there are several grocers now who have their own app or website where you click the items you want to buy. Then a worker ‘shops’ them and when you or they are ready, you pick them up curbside or in the store. This saves you time and you can add things to your ‘cart’ as you run out and then checkout when you are ready instead of having to remember or write on 10 different paper lists to get everything. Only to end up forgetting things as well, like I do.
With these simple but efficient home management skills, you will find more work getting done in your house in an organized manner, without feeling stressed out all the time.
Before the arrival of the coronavirus, working from home was a privilege available to only a small fraction of society. It was reserved for Work from Home Moms, and many thought it was the easiest thing ever. Post the pandemic, everyone is working from home. And as easy as it sounds on paper, working from home is anything but a piece of cake. Many people cannot find the motivation to work in the place they have always known as home – a center of repose and rest.
The pandemic shows no signs of going away soon.
50 insane work from home productivity hacks
Here are 50 insane work from home productivity hacks to help!
Get dressed for work. For many, the feeling of getting dressed for office is a motivation in itself. So, wear what you normally would when you go to work. Then sit down in front of the computer. This will send signals to your brain, characterizing home as an office.
Get some sunshine. If you are feeling overwhelmed after working for hours, just pause and take a breather. Go for a walk. Don’t take your phone with you.
Don’t take your phone to bed with you at night. Switch off the email and social media notifications.
Coffee is your savior in the work from home environment. But don’t drink too much of it. Or else, you won’t be able to catch a good night’s sleep.
Get a good night’s sleep.
Get some houseplants to make your workspace green.
Never work in the kitchen.
Use Ethernet whenever you can, especially on deadlines.
Use noise-canceling headphones or earmuffs to block the unnecessary chatter out.
Say hello to Zoom and learn how it works.
Switch off your social media alerts when you sit down to work. Do not turn it on.
Take formal breaks like you would if you were really at the office.
Go out of the house after work is done. And recharge.
Create a designated workspace in your house.
Create a dedicated schedule.
Eat vegetables and fruits, drink plenty of water.
Trade your regular chair for an ergonomic, adjustable one from Amazon.
Don’t schedule back-to-back video conferences.
Change positions every now and then, instead of sitting straight for hours.
Never work in bed.
Put on shoes, as you would for going to work. This also gets you in that office headspace.
Make a habit of going to the gym. Or working out at home.
Wake up at least a couple of hours before work. So that you don’t just head off into work the minute you wake up.
Create a bedtime and morning ritual.
Use apps like Evernote to replace sticky post-its.
Set definite work hours.
Create a priority list.
Plan your days so that you don’t end up doing the same thing every day. For example, you could be doing A, B, C on Mondays and Thursdays while you do X, Y, Z on Tuesdays and Fridays.
Set boundaries with your friends and family. Create ‘Do Not Disturb’ hours and let your close ones know.
Stay in touch with your team, so that you do not slack off.
Get up and move, take your eyes off the computer screen for five minutes every hour.
Keep optimizing your workspace.
Don’t work on a laptop for long. Get a desktop installed.
If you have a pet or a baby or a sick child, adjust your work environment accordingly. Do what would be comfortable for you.
Invest in a standing desk.
Wireless keyboard and mouse are your saviors.
Use flexible monitor arms and touchscreens.
Focus on one task at a time.
Make sure you create backups.
Stay flexible.
Look for coffee shops nearest to your house in case your server is down and you have a deadline to meet.
Set up your workspace in natural light, and then next to an indoor plant. It will also lead to a more pleasant state of mind for working.
Stop working at the end of your scheduled work hours. Do not overwork.
Set simple, achievable goals so that you can get the most work done.
Listen to music while working, if that’s your thing.
Listen to audiobooks while you go to sleep.
Declutter your workspace and also keep it as neat as possible.
Use apps in full-screen mode.
Join Discord servers with people who have similar interests, so that you can socialize after work.
Hope this list helps you to kick butt at work and stay focused enough to get things done!
Despite being in the present, we are never in it. We are either still stuck in the past, or we try to stay in the future. Either way, we miss out on what we have right now, we take it for granted.
The key to happiness is just this, live every moment the best you can. One and the only way to do that is to stay in the present and value everything that you are doing and everything you have. That’s what you call mindfulness. In three words – STAYING IN THE MOMENT
Mindfulness has become quite an important concept in recent years because it can change lives. It can empower you to understand your thoughts better, live a peaceful life, and facilitate you to be stronger in your time of need. I feel it becomes more relevant when vacations or breaks come about, like summer or winter break.
If you haven’t practiced mindfulness yet, it’s time you should. We will be guiding you throughout.
7 practical ways to be more mindful
1. Do one thing at a time
When your focus is to be mindful, then you need to divert your attention to just one thing, not many. For instance, if you have piles of files to read, and a few more tasks like application filling, or anything else, do one thing at a time. While you are at it, focus on what you are doing right now, and nothing else. Doing so will not only boost your concentration but will reduce your stress and anxiety as well.
If you have many things to focus on, my favorite thing to use is this timer cube to set specific amounts of time to work on things. I try to use it when I have major deadlines and also need to shop for products for the next home renovation project we have going. It really does allow me to have a set deadline to work on things and when it beeps, I get to take a break or focus on something else. I feel it keeps me on track more and lets me focus on one thing at a time instead of trying to work on all the open tabs at once.
2. Focus on your breath
Do you know why breathing is integral in any kind of meditation? Because it helps in linking your body with your mind. When you are conscious of every breath you take, you are being in the present. I have learned to focus and actually breathe through stretching and yoga the most. Before I started doing those two things, I unconsciously would hold my breath and then be gasping for are doing the simplest of tasks. If you are going through something hard, focusing on the breath may be the thing that gets you through.
That’s not it; doing so can tremendously boost your concentration levels, and help you stay more productive throughout.
3. Practice active listening
There are a hundred noises that exist but you don’t hear them when you are engrossed in something. But these almost inaudible noises can help you become mindful, every day. You can listen to clocks ticking, or the sound of the fan. Literary any noises that you neglect daily.
My family knows I can hear almost everything, even when the room is noisy. I practice active listening and it allows me to remember and see and catch most things people miss because they are too worried about what they are going to say next and have no idea what is happening around them.
4. Listen to an Audiobook
If you happen to be a book lover, this is just for you. Listening to audiobooks can be entertaining and at the same time a great exercise to practice mindfulness and develop your listening skills. While you are at it, make full use of your imagination skills. Imagine as if you are in the book itself. Imagine every detail, picture everything the author is saying.
5. Go for a walk
You might not get a lot of ideas at your home, but walking in a park can offer you many. You just have to see everything there is to see on your walks. If there’s a kid in the pram, look at it, if a man is tying his shoes, look at him. Looking at things around you is a great way to practice mindfulness. If you have pets or kids, a walk is a great way to show them a new perspective as well as get out some energy. They might even give you some new ideas you didn’t think of as well.
If you happen to take a run as well, then notice how you breathe after being exhausted and tired. Notice the movements of your chest and stomach while you gasp for breath after the run. It’s just another way to sync your body and mind.
6. Practice meditation
Meditation and mindfulness go hand in hand, so much so that meditation is about mindfulness because it makes you focus on your thoughts and body at the same time. Meditation helps you discover things about yourself you didn’t think possible. When I first started meditating, I couldn’t quiet my mind so I used guided meditations. Then, as I did it more, and was used to it, I was able to quiet my mind on my own. Now, I use quiet moments throughout the day as a sort of meditation because I know what it feels like to be quiet in my mind. I find myself being much calmer when I take the extra moments to meditate.
7. Don’t count the pages
How often do you find yourself counting pages that are left to cover? I bet all the time. Stop doing it because it is the opposite of mindfulness. When you are worried about the remaining pages, you are not in the present but somewhere in the future for a few seconds. You don’t have to do that. Instead, you have to focus on the pages you are currently reading or writing, and that’s how you practice mindfulness.
As a kid, when we had to take the reading tests in school, to “win” I would read the first chapters of the book and skip to the end to take the test and read the most books. I didn’t work because I usually didn’t get all the questions right to pass the test. I learned then and there, it’s so important to take in all the in between not only the beginning and the end.
That’s all we had to say. But there are a million more ways to practice mindfulness; you can practice it while doing any activity that you do.
If you find these tips helpful, please let us know in the comment section. We also welcome suggestions or feedback that you would like to provide us.
Up until now, you must have assumed minimalism to be beneficial for your décor and budget. But did you know that it can yield plenty of health benefits as well? Much to your surprise it’s all linked.
Well, the concept is quite a rage these days and almost every one of us might be familiar with the principle of it. But in case you aren’t, let’s give you a heads up.
In a nutshell, minimalism emphasizes having fewer possessions. This means, the less you possess, the more sorted you will be in life.
The principle yields a lot of benefits when you include it in your lifestyle. By reducing clutter at home, you reduce clutter in your head.
Not only that, there are various other health benefits of minimalism.
Read on to find out!
7 powerful health benefits of minimalism
1. Provides cleaner air
Powerful Health Benefits of Minimalism
Dust is everywhere. It is in the air, but it becomes a problem when dust and mites attach themselves to surfaces. That means the more surfaces (things) there are; the more dust and mites will stick to it.
Cleaning might solve this problem. But imagine when there would be so many surfaces to wipe the dust off them, how hectic and polluting it will be for you.
However, when you have less stuff, you will be done with cleaning in just a few minutes! Consequently, you will feel the ambiance and air to be cleaner.
2. Provides freedom
When you have a house to run on a tight budget, the most stressful thing would be financial management.
But with minimalism, you can save more. Thereby, you will have a much wider financial space, to make wiser decisions.
In addition to that, fewer things would allow more space in your home. Consequently, you will not feel suffocated as you did with more stuff and less space. You will be free to move around, in free spirit.
3. Improves social life
As a homemaker, how often have you canceled plans because you had cleaning chores to do? Well, if it happens frequently, then you know household chores have damaged your social life.
It’s a given that when you have more possessions, it will take longer to clean them. But with minimalism, cleaning will be easier and quicker! It would save you plenty of time to go out, hang out with your friends.
Trust me it will also help you improve your relationship with other people that you neglected because of chores. If suppose you have a friend with whom you haven’t talked to in a while because of work, you can dial them up, and talk like before.
4. Less stress
It cannot be denied that cleaning chores are exhausting when there is so much to do single-handedly. Consequently, as a homemaker, you would worry all the time!
“How would I manage to do it all?”
“It’s just a few minutes before dinner time, and I’m still not done”
But when you have fewer tasks to tackle, you will be less stressed; meaning your mental health will improve significantly.
5. You would focus less on material possessions
When you are a minimalist, you would value moments and memories more than some material possessions. You will be happy with what you have, and you would not desire more. You will be satisfied thereby, improving your mental health.
6. You would focus more on health
Let me guess, all this while you had been so occupied with chores, that you took your health for granted. You stopped taking care of yourself, had a poor diet, and exhausted your body severely without taking enough rest!
If that’s so, then with minimalism, you can repair the damage by finding time to take care of your health needs.
7. Allows time to exercise and pursue hobbies
The one major advantage of minimalism is that it allows free time for you. You can utilize this time to indulge in exercises, boosting your physical health. Likewise, your mental health improves when you find time to devote to your hobbies (After all, hobbies make you happy)
I hope we maneuvered you into realizing the health benefits of minimalism. So, what are you waiting for? Embrace minimalism, today!
Let us know how it works out for you in the comment section.
I think this one would be so fun for any age and you can do these on your real nails, on acrylics, with a dip, or as a gel option. So versatile and good for events, travel, and wedding season.
design with colored flowers or white flowers, depending on the other colors in the set. You can switch this design up quite a bit and have the same trend with different colors and floral placement all summer and no one would know any different.
for our wedding back in 2015, but with color and a silver line. Now, a nude nail is all the rage and adding lines of color or little swirls of color help make this designer nail pop. I need to remind you, the nude you see in the photo may not work the same on your skin — sometimes it can turn out more pink or more brown. So be mindful when choosing the nude or make sure to let your nail tech know you want a nude that will best match your skin and the photo.
the morning. You cannot just grab whatever you can from the refrigerator and throw them together in a pot. Every meal of the day should be planned according to the likes and needs of the family members, to ensure that they get their nutrition while savoring a dish. Variety is the spice of life so a varied diet each day is important to satisfy those hunger pangs.
need to fix a budget and chalk out how you will spend your money to pay the bills, to buy essentials such as food and clothing, recreation, and more.
in these baskets and put labels on them so that everyone in the family knows where the dirty laundry goes and where the toiletries are.
of priorities. But it’s important to have your yard just as neat and tidy as your house because it makes sense to have a proper usable space outside of the house.
do one thing at a time. While you are at it, focus on what you are doing right now, and nothing else. Doing so will not only boost your concentration but will reduce your stress and anxiety as well. 
But these almost inaudible noises can help you become mindful, every day. You can listen to clocks ticking, or the sound of the fan. Literary any noises that you neglect daily. 
to see everything there is to see on your walks. If there’s a kid in the pram, look at it, if a man is tying his shoes, look at him. Looking at things around you is a great way to practice mindfulness. If you have pets or kids, a walk is a great way to show them a new perspective as well as get out some energy. They might even give you some new ideas you didn’t think of as well. 
because it is the opposite of mindfulness. When you are worried about the remaining pages, you are not in the present but somewhere in the future for a few seconds. You don’t have to do that. Instead, you have to focus on the pages you are currently reading or writing, and that’s how you practice mindfulness. 
happens frequently, then you know household chores have damaged your social life.
possessions. You will be happy with what you have, and you would not desire more. You will be satisfied thereby, improving your mental health.
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